Maine Family Receives Lifesaving Smoke Alarms

After hearing about the Red Cross of Maine’s Home Fire Preparedness Campaign, the Morin family of West Kennebunk contacted our office for assistance with the installation of smoke alarms.

The Morin’s have long had concerns about their children’s safety, especially where audio warning sounds are concerned. Two of their young children were born with a congenital hearing impairment that essentially renders them both deaf. With the aid of hearing assistance devices, they can hear well enough to understand general conversation but the children must remove those implants at night, making it virtually impossible to hear a smoke alarm if it were to sound off in the home.

During a recent visit to their home, Red Cross volunteers arranged to install special vibrating alarms in the children’s bedroom. When a smoke alarm is activated, a vibration shakes the child’s bed to wake them up and then they can safely proceed out of their home in the event of a fire.

"We are grateful to the Red Cross of Maine for installing the vibrating fire alarm. We feel safer knowing that our hearing impaired children will be alerted in case of a fire," said Ty and April Morin.

The Red Cross continues to work in partnership with the State Fire Marshal and local fire departments throughout the state to install free smoke alarms in homes. Your generous support helps provide the organization with necessary equipment to install lifesaving equipment and help reduce fire-related deaths and injuries. Within the last year, the Red Cross installed more than 2,700 free smoke alarms in the state of Maine.

Approximately every 8 minutes, someone across the country will fall victim to a home fire or other disaster. Your continued commitment to the Red Cross ensures that we are there for people during their darkest times.